Pausas Y Actividad Neuronal en La Producción Oral DE Hablantes DE Herencia, Nativos Y No Nativos DE Español E Inglés Utilizando Electroencefalograma

This study focuses on communication strategies related to pauses during oral discourse using electroencephalography (EEG). This neurolinguistic project investigates cognitive and neural processes underlying different types of pauses during discourse in three different groups of bilingual (English/Spanish) speakers using their L1 or L2, as they perform three different role-plays (purchase and sale; complaint and opinion) in English and in Spanish. To accomplish this, participants were wearing skullcaps equipped with scalp electroencephalography (EEG) sensors in order to register their brain wave activity. From the linguistic point of view, it has been confirmed that the least used pause by all speakers in their L1 and L2 are the empty pauses, while the most commonly used are the filled ones. It has also been found that elongations require some linguistic competence for their use. The results show that the reasons for the L1 and L2 pauses are different, and that it is possible to use them, along with other tests, as language proficiency measurement. From a neurolinguistic point of view, it has been validated that there are more brain areas involved in language and not just those typical of Broca and Wernicke, and in the same way, the areas involved in pauses in L1 and L2 are not the same. This work emphasizes the need not to stigmatize pauses, but to teach them in the classroom and teach teachers and students how to manage them, as well as the importance of learning more about brain function and their implications in language learning.